Forum:Geneology and Seasonal Hunts
Introduction This is a very complex idea, which could be rather simplified, and it serves mostly to flavor of Monster Hunter over gameplay, but could heavily impact play as well. When playing Monster Hunter, I realized that stuffing 50+ beasts into the same game and making them all mass hunted at the same time would take away from the game's authenticity. So the concept of reworking geneology and creating a real-time seasonal hunt system (based on 3 months of real time being a full seasonal cycle), but also giving identity to the hunter's guild, and creating a new humanistic villain for the hunters, poachers. At first, this concept will probably leave bitter tastes in the mouths of many players, so I would ask to implore the reader to think of the concept entirely instead of divesting it with half-baked argument. -Wynn (Paralykeet) The Path to Evolution Take, our friend Barroth, and it's Icy cousin, where do they come from? What are they related to? To me the answer was obvious, Gravios. Would it not make sense that the game explores the concept that Barroths are Gravios/Basarios whom adapted to life in the mud, which had their wings hazed out after several generations due to their immense weight and mud life?. Then, say, some of the new species moved to the tundra, an environment as moist as swamps, where they could thrive due to high internal body temperatures (which allowed Gravios to adapt to volcanic bathing). Or Let's take the raptor-races, and say that they evolved from Monoblos, who lost their wings and horns so that they could scavenge better and took smaller bodies so that they could breed faster and become more diverse, in exchange for living lower on the predatory food-chain. Then we could take it a step further and say that Monoblos is descendant to the Elder Dragon, Kirin. Creating a web of evolution between Elder Dragons and lesser predators (whether evolved from or into Elder Dragons) could create more room for new monster creation as well, without too many "rehashings" of the same beasts. As The Seasons Grey Next would be the concept of the environment going between the 3 seasons, and how different species would behave. Moreso, the concept that the Hunter's Guilds would restrict some monsters (most especially Elder Dragons) from being hunted at specific times, or even dispatch hunters to protect a creature from rogue poachers (by means of assassination or repelling the creature to safety). Likewise, there would be a season where catching a specific subspecies of a creature would pay better due to their over-population and the demand from farmers. The other importance of season is in farming, as the world of Monster Hunter is dominated by farmers (a "crude modernism", inverse of our own). Since, farming is now an important part of the Monster Hunter offline experience, perhaps ontop of crop-yield, season will also effect the kinds of plant-life obtainable in the field. Poached, Not Scrambled Something I should elaborate about is the concept of having monster poachers (those who hunt out of season or take slays from licensed hunters), or rather an anti-thesis to the players. Instead of the protagonist being the savior of a village in the offline mode, this would allow them to take up the same role as online, a mercenary. Ideally this could also make onlinexoffline almost seamless. =Comments= wooooooaaaahhhhhhh....... thats alot of writing, you must really have no life, a quick typer or you like MH ALOT..... good though =D Me like, me like... Juderex 23:20, December 23, 2010 (UTC) I must say,I was skeptical at first,but as I read on and saw how much thought you put into this,I was...converted,so to speak.I find myself saying "I have seen the light,and I believe!" XD.Anyhoo,this a very good idea.Very few forums are as well thought out as this one.You have a very intriguing idea here,and it could really be something.I like the thought of seasonal hunts.I mean,they already cycle event quests as it stands now,so why not take it one step further? Good job,my friend,good job.CrellinEtreyu 02:11, December 24, 2010 (UTC) Although I disagree about the evolution part (Gravios to Barroth? Monoblos to Bird Wyvern? Kirin to Monoblos? seriously, WT*?) but the seasons and poaching part sounded interesting. Personally though, I'm not sure how you would go about fighting these poachers if they were humans, but that's just me. Maybe you would be penalized for freehunting monsters if they were out of season? I actually had an idea similar to the "rescuing monsters" concept, but it was more of a special class of monsters, Sacred Wyverns, that would appear randomly during high-rank quests like the Deviljho, only they were friendly toward humans and would actually assist your hunter during the quest, but would also be under near-constant attack by other monsters. If they lived to the end of the quest, they would drop materials you can use and leave the area, but if they were killed, you would fail the quest if you quest was to protect them, or you would lose money or HRP on other quests. Additionally, you wouldn't be able to carve them if they died. I guess rescuing other monsters like that would work, as long as their attention is focused more on the poachers than me and my party. ...Actually, now that I think about it, I think 3 months is bit too long to wait for a seasonal change to let me get a monster or material I need. Why not have them change every week, like event quests?Cobalt32 16:41, December 24, 2010 (UTC)Cobalt32 Fixed :), happy holidays and thanks for the commentary :D Perhaps every season lasting a month may seem a big long but if the seasonal periods are too short, it would make the game less accessible for those who don't tote their Wii wherever they go. -Wynn (Paralykeet) Either way, now that I think about it, I guess having rescue quests replace kill quests when monsters are out of season wouldn't be so bad as long as you can still get parts from those quests, so if I wanted a Lagia Sapphire when it wasn't the season that allows me to hunt Lagiacri(?), maybe I could still get it by ensuring that it lives instead of killing it.Cobalt32 19:17, December 26, 2010 (UTC)Cobalt32 The idea is actually that with the amount of diversity MHFU had, there would be purpose in playing WHEN you play... I'd actually think it more suiting that players get thunderbugs, nets, trap tool kits, throwing knives, flashbombs, dungbombs, tranquilizers, barrelbombs, catalysts and several other items that normally require a good deal of farming to get en masse would be appropriate for defeating poachers. =) It could supply a happy alternative to people who hate farming and fetching for hunting utilities. The other thing is that MH is a non-linear game, thus you can get the armors when in season that you want from that particular season. In a large scale game, Lagia might be out of season, but you could probably work on your Rathalos or Tigrex armor in the mean time. -Wynn (Paralykeet) @Wynn: Hey, I just thought of something: would Lynians like Melynxes or Shakalakas do the poaching, or would they be NPC Hunters wearing "standard-issue" type armors that disappear using Farcasters when defeated? Actually, the latter would make the most sense if you intend for them to get hard-to-obtain tools like that if you defeat them... That second part makes sense, now that you mention it... Even if you're the type that only wants the Lagi armor until a higher-level armor appears, you could always work on your weapons collection while you wait.Cobalt32 19:41, December 26, 2010 (UTC)Cobalt32 @Wynn: This just hit me: If the poachers were rogue NPC Hunters, maybe you would be able to inflict blights on them depending on your weapon element and the armor they're wearing? Think about it: Fireblight: Inflicts gradual damage like poison and makes them roll about uncontrollably trying to put it out Waterblight and Iceblight: saps their Stamina, making them unable to use their more powerful attacks Thunderblight: makes them easier to stun with blows to the head Dragonblight: lowers their attack powerCobalt32 15:39, December 27, 2010 (UTC)Cobalt32